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MESSAGE 



/ /'! 



V() 



VHOM THE 



PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 



TRANSMITTING, 



IN RESPONSE TO RESOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 6, CORRESPONDENCE 
RELATING TO THE CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITER, IN CON- 
NECTION WITH THl^ KILLING OF GENERAL BARRUNDIA. 



WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1891. 



MESSAGE 



FBOM THE 



PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 



TBANSMITTINO, 



IN RESPONSE TO RESOLUTION OF FEBRUARY 6, CORRESPONDENCE 

RELATING TO THE CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITER, IN CON- 

I^ECTION WITH THE KILLING OF GENERAL BARRUNDIA. 



WASHINGTON : 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 
1891. 



-^olsT Congress, ) SENATE. i Ex. Doc. 

2d Sessi07i. i \ No. 50. 



'^- MESSAGE 

FROM THE 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 



TRANSMITTING, 



In response to resolution of February G, correspondence relating to the 
conduct of Commander Belter, in connection with the killing of General 
Barrundia. 



February 10, 1891. — Read, referred to the Committee on Naval Affairs, and ordered 

to be j)rinted. 



To the Senate : 

I transmit herewith the correspoudence called for by the resolution 
of the Senate of the 6th instant, relating to the conduct of Commander 
Eeiter, in connection with the) arrest and killing of General Barrundia. 

Benj. Harrison. 

Executive Mansion, Fehruary 10, 1891. 



i^AVY Department, 
Washington, February 10, 1891. 
The President: 

Sir : I have the honor to submit herewith the correspondence called 
for by the resolution of the Senate of the 6th instant referred to this 
Dei^artment, requesting the President, "if not inconsistent with the 
public interests, to transmit to the Senate the correspondence in refer- 
ence to the conduct of the senior naval ofiflcer present at San Jose de 
Guatemala on the occasion of the arrest and killing of General Bar- 
rundia, and the action of the Navy Department thereon." 
Very respectfully, 

B. F. Tracy, 
/Secretary of the Navy. 



List of inclosures. 

No. 1 , — Commander Reiter to Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, August 23, I.S90. 

No. 2. — The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Reiter, September '29, lb90. 

No. 3. — Commander Reiter to Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, November 25, 
1890. 

No. 4. — Commander Reiter to the Secretary of the Navy, December 8, 1890. 

No. 5. — The Secretary of tho Navy to Commander Reiter, December 12, 1890. 

No. 6. — The Secretary of tho Navy to Commander Reiter, December 12, 18U0. 

No. 7.— Tho Acting Secretary of the Navy to Commander Reiter, December 18, 
1890. 



; CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITEE. 

No. 8. — Commauder Eeiter to the Secretary of the Navy, December 20, 1890. 
No. 9. — The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Reiter, December 31, 1890. 
No. lo. — Commander Reiter to the Secretary of the Navy, January 8, lb91. 
No. 11. — The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Reiter, January 14, 1891. 
No. 12. — Commander Reiter to the Secretary of the Navy, January 20, 1891. 



No. 1. — Commander Beiter to Chief of Bureau of Navigation. 

TJ. S. S. Eanger, 
San Jose de Guatemala, August 28, 1890. 

Sir : I have the hoiior to report that thediploniatic corps at Guatemala 
having decided upon a basis for peace which it was supposed would be 
acceptable to the Governments ot Guatemala and Salvador, and it being 
necessary that Senor Galindo, the envoy from Salvador, should convey 
to his Government this agreement, and that an answer be received before 
6 p. in., 23d instant, at the request of United States Minister Mizner, 
there being no public conveyance available, I consented to send Seiior 
Galindo to Acajutla in the Thetis, and to bring back from there a com- 
missioner within the time specified. 

Senor Galindo left here on the Thetis on the evening of the 18th 
instant and was landed in Acajutla on the following morning, after 
which the Thetis proceeded to La Union and Amapala. 

I went ashore on the evening of the ISth instant to meet Senor Gal- 
indo and take him on board the Thetis, when I found that his baggage 
had been seized and overhauled, and that the commandant had given 
orders that he should not be permitted to embark. On inquiry I found 
that Senor Galindo was provided with a passport from the Guatemalan 
Government which, on the arrival of the train at San Jos6, was presented 
to a sentry and by him taken away. 

1 immediately sent the United States consular agent to inform the 
commandant of this fact, when he gave orders for the release of the bag- 
gage and permitted Senor Galindo to embark. 

In consequence of this I proceeded to the city of Guatemala the fol- 
lowing morning, related the circumstances to the United States minis- 
ter, and requested him to accompany me to the minister of foreign 
relations of Guatemala, to inform him of this action on the part of the 
commandant at San Jose, and that I would not go to Acajutla without , 
the guaranty of the Guatemalan Government that anyone whom I might 
bring back as envoy from Salvador should be courteously received and 
not molested in any way ; which guaranty was immediately given. 

On the night of the 19th instant I proceeded to Acajutla, and sailed 
from there on the morning of the 22d instant, but without any envoy or 
commissioner. Seiior Galindo, who came on board, handed me dis- 
jjatcbes for the United States minister, which I received and delivered 
to him at 10:30 a. m., 23d instant, having arrived at San Jos6 at 4:30 
a. m. and taken a special train from San Jose for the capital at 6 a. m. 

The diplomatic corps was immediately convened to consider the 
terms submitted by Salvador, and at about 2 p. m. the United States 
minister informed me that, in the opinion of the entire diplomatic 
corps, except himself, the Government of Guatemala should not be in- 
formed of the answer of Salvador, on the ground that it would give the 
Government of Guatemala an unfair advantage, there being a tacit un- 
derstanding of an armistice until 6 p. m. of that day. 

The United States minister then submitted to me the original basis 
of agreement and the reply of Salvador, and requested my opinion in 



CONDUCT OF COMMANDEE REITER. 3 

tbe matter. 1 informed him that as the armistice was to cease at 6 p. 
m., I did not tbiuk there could be any advantage oueitlier side, as pru- 
dent commanders would be prepared for active operations at its exj)i- 
ratiou, and that the Government of Guatemala should be informed at 
once and given the opportunity to accept or decline the terms submitted 
by Salvador. 

This was done, an armistice was agreed upon until the evening of 
the 27th instant, and it was decided that the ministers of the United 
States, Spain, Costa Eica, and Nicaragua should go to Acajutla to con- 
fer with the Provisional President, Ezeta, on the 2oth instant. 

At the request of the United States minister I conveyed these min- 
isters to Acajutla, whence, after a day's conference with Provisional 
President Ezeta, I returned with them to this port, San Jos6, arriving 
at 8 a. m., 26th instant. 

The minister proceeded by special train, at 9 a. m., to the city of 
Guatemala, and on the 27th I received the following telegram from 
United States Minister Mizner: 

Peace basis accepted and signed by both nations. Belligerents notified, and no- 
tice acknowledged. Armies to retire in 2 days. 

Eeferring to the last paragraph of my letter of the 14th instant, I 
have to report that on the 17th instant a demand for the immediate re- 
turn of arms and ammunition taken from the Pacific Mail Steamship 
Golima was made by the United States minister. 

During my conversation with the United States minister on the 19th 
instant, heretofore referred to, he informed me that in reply to his de- 
mand for the return of the arms he had received a letter from the min- 
ister of foreign relations of Guatemala, requesting a personal inter- 
view at 1 p. m., 20th instant, and asked my opinion. 

I told him that as no reply had been received to several requests for 
the return of the arras, and as he had made a peremptory demand for 
their immediate return, I thought he should decline this personal inter- 
view and inform the minister of foreign relations that he desired a 
written reply to his last communication on the subject. 

When about leaving the minister of foreign relations after our 
interview in regard to the Salvadorian envoy, he referred to his letter 
to the United States minister, asking if it had been received. Mr. 
Mizner replied that it had, but that he must decline a personal inter- 
view on the subject. The minister of foreign relations then expressed 
the greatest regret at the seizure and for the discourtesy of his prede- 
cessor in not replying to the minister's communications, and his will- 
ingness to return the arms at once. 

The United States minister thereupon consented to a personal inter- 
view the next day, for final arrangements for return of the arms. 

The arms are now at San Jose ready for shipment on the next steamer 
bound north on the 30th instant. 

At about 6:30 p. m., yesterday, 27th instant, I received the following 
telegram from United States Minister Mizner: 

General Barruudia is on the Acapulco. Gantemala alleges that he is hostile, and, 
being in their waters, they can arrest him. 1 think that they have the right. 

As the Acapulco was at this time reported in sight, I immediately 
went on shore and sent the following telegram to the United States 
minister: 

Barrun(?ia expected in steamer. As peace is declared I suggest that you ask Gov- 
ernment to permit Thetis to take him to Acapulco, we acknowledging their municipal 
rights over steamer. Steamer Acajrulco in sight. 



4 CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITER. 

I also requested the commandant to suspend action until I received 
a reply to this telegram, which he declined to do, but went on board the 
steamer and returned without attempting the arrest of Barrundia. 

This morning at 9:30 I received the following telegram from United 
States Minister Mizner : 

This Governm'ent declinea offer. to take Barrundia away iu Thetis. Have advised 
Captain Pitts to deliver him. 

At about 2 p. m. it was thought that a number of shots were heard 
on board the Ampulco, and at 2:15 the Guatemalan flag was hauled 
down from the fore and the United States flag hoisted in its stead, 
when I supposed the United States minister was on board. But at 
2:30, when the whaleboat came alongside with Lieutenants Bartlett 
and Halsey, who had been visiting the Acapuico, Lieutenant Bartlett 
reported to me that the commandant was on board, and that promis- 
cuous firing had been going on on board the ship, and that they desired 
protection, the United States flag at the fore having been hoisted to 
signify that desire. I immediately left the ship in the gig to go along- 
side the Acapiilco and ordered Lieutenant Harris to follow me at once 
with an armed party of marines in the whaleboat. On my arrival on 
the Acaimlco 1 found all quiet and no necessity for any protection, so 
that on arrival of Lieutenant Harris, a few moments afterwards, I 
directed him to return to the Banger. 

The following is, as near as 1 could determine from the statements of 
Captain Pitts and First Officer Brown, of the Acapuico., the correct ac- 
count of what occurred on board. 

The commandant came alongside with two boats, and on board the 
Acaimlco with three or four detectives. Captain Pitts asked him if he 
had a letter for him. He replied that he had, and delivered it to him. 
They then went to the captain's room, where the letter was opened and 
read. It was from United States Minister Mizner, informing Captain 
Pitts that if he were within the marine league of the shores of Guate- 
mala, and General Barrundia were on board, it was his duty, under the 
law of nations, to surrender him upon proper demand. 

Captain Pitts took the precaution to send his first officer to notify the 
cabin passengers to go below into the dining saloon, and the steerage 
passengers to keep forward. 

He then went with the commandant to the stateroom on the hurri- 
cane deck, occupied by General Barrundia, where they found him stand- 
ing up smoking a cigarette. They remained outside, one standing on 
either side of the door. 

The captain informed General Barrundia of the letter received from 
the United States minister, and that he could not extend him any 
further protection. The commandant then had some conversation 
with General Barrundia in Spanish. General Barrundia then said 
"Bueno," and immediately reached for a revolver, which was concealed 
under a mattress in the upper bunk, and fired two or three shots 
through the doorway between them. The captain and the command- 
ant beat a hasty retreat aft, taking refuge in an unoccupied stateroom. 

They were followed by Barrundia, firing wildly. He stopped and 
fired several shots into the stateroom where the captain and the com- 
mandant were concealed. 

He then apparently ran forward and crossed througli the " social 
hall" to the starboard side, where he fired forward and aft, then 
crossed to the port side again and started forward, when he fell. 



CONDUCT OF COMMANDER KEITER. 5 

The detectives, as near as I could determine, rau out of tlie " Social 
Hall" and forward wheu Barrundia first commenced firing, but some 
time during the melee returned and began discharging their revolvers 
at him. It was impossible to ascertain definitelv any details of the 
occurrence after this, but General Barrundia died where he fell, havin"- 
been pierced by several bullets. * 

His body was taken on shore by the commandant. 

The Thetis returned to this port yesterday morning, the 27th instant, 
and Lieutenant-Commander Stockton reports everything quiet at La 
Libertad, La Union, and Amapala. 

The health of officers and crew of the Banger and Thetis is very good. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, 

Geo. C. Reitee, 

Lieutenant- Commander U. 8. K, Commanding. 
Commodore F. M. Eamsay, U. S. K, 

Chief of Bureatc of Navigation, 

Navy Department, Washington D. C. 



No. 2.— The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Beiter. 

ISayy Department, 
Washington, September 29, 1890. 
Sir: On the reporting of your relief, Commander George E. Win- 
gate, you will regard yourself detached from the command of the 
Banger, proceed home, and on your arrival report by letter to the De- 
partment and also inform it of the date of your detachment in obedi- 
ence to this order. 
Eespectfully, 

B. F. Tracy, 
Secretary of the Navy, 
Lieut. Commander George C. Reiter, 

Commanding U. S. S. Banger, 

San Jose de Guatemala. 



No. ^.— Commander Beiter to Chief of the Bureau of Navigation. 

PiTTSBURan, Pa., Novemher 25, 1890. 
Sir; I have the honor to report my arrival home, having been re- 
lieved by Commander Wingate and detached from command of the 
Banger at Corinto on the Gth instant. 
My address will be 57 Fourth avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Respectfully, 

Geo. C. Reiter, 
Lieutenant-Commander, U, S. Navy. 
Commodore F. M. Ramsay, U. S. K, 

Chief of Bureau of Navigation. 



6 CONDUCT OF COMMANDER EEITER. 

No. 4. — Commander Reiter to the Secretary of the Navy. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., December 8, 1890. 
Sir : As I was relieved from command of the Banger after but 1 
year's service and have been informed that the Associated Press dis- 
patches from Washington, in announcing my recall, stated that it was 
on account of dissatisfaction of the Navy Department with my conduct 
in connection with the Barrundia affair, and in view of the fact that I 
have had no communication from the Department since my arrival 
home on the 25th of NTovember, I fear that the Department does not 
approve of my action while in command of the Ranger on the coast of 
Central America. 

I therefore respectfully request to be informed if such is the case, 
and, if so, that I may be afforded an opportunity to explain my action 
to you personally or before a court of inquiry. 

Eeferring to the press reports that I had refused protection on the 
occasion referred to I beg to state that the report is not correct and 
that I was not called upon for advice or intervention in any way. 
Eespectfully, 

Geo. 0. Eeiter, 
Commander, U. 8. Navy. 
Hon. B. F. Tracy, 

Secretary of the Navy. 



No. 5. — The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Reiter. 

Navy Department, 
Washington, December 12, 1890. 
Sir : Your letter of the 25th ultimo, reporting your arrival home, 
having been detached from command of the U. S. S. Ranger at Corinto, 
on the 6th of November last, has been received, and you will regard 
yourself as waiting orders from the date of your reaching honie. 
Very respectfully, 

B. F. Tracy, 
Secretary of the Navy. 
Commander Georqe C. Eeiter, U. S. K, 

Fittshurgh, Pa. 



N"o. 6. — The Secretary of the Navy to Commander Reiter. 

Navy Department, 
Washington, December 12, 1890. 
Sir: In reply to your letter of the 8th instant, you are informed that 
the Department was dissatisfied with your course while in command of 
the U. S. S. Ranger on the coast of Central America. Ton are author- 
ized to visit the Department and to make, personally, such explanation 
in regard to your actions as you may desire. 
Very respectfully. 

B. F. Tracy, 
Secretary of the Navy. 
Commander George C. Eeiter, U. S. N"., 

Pittsburgh, Pa. 



CONDUCT OF COMMANDER EEITEE. 7 

Ko. 7. — The Acting Secretary of the JS^avy to Commander Relter, 

Xayy Department, 
Washington, December 18, 1890. 
Sir : Eeferring to joiu report of August 28 last, couceruiug the death 
of Geueral Barruudia, aud the events counected tberewitb, the De- 
partment desires to receive as early as practicable the additional re- 
port you v^ere verbally directed to make concerning your visit to the 
Acapidco, in which you will add. any other facts connected witb the 
affair not yet reported by yon. 
Very respectfully, 



J. E. SOLEY, 



Acting Secretary of the Navy^ 
Commander George C. Beiter, U. S. jST, 

Pittsburgh, Fa. 



Xo. 8. — Commander Reiter to the Secretary of the Navy. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., December 20, 1890. 

Sir : In obedience to your order of the ISth instant I have the honor 
to submit thefollowingadditionalreport concerning thedeathof General 
Barriindia and my visit to the Acajndco on the 28th August last. 

On the receipt of the following telegram from the United States min- 
ister : " This Government declines offer to take Barrundia away iu 
Thetis. Have advised Captain Pitts to deliver him," at about 9:30 a. 
m., September 28, I went on board the Acapuico to see Captain Pitts. 
I told him about the above telegram and asked him if he had heard 
from the minister. He said he had not, and that he would not sur- 
render Barrundia without an order from the minister or myself. J told 
him I certainly would not give him any such order. Captain Pitts 
asked me on what grounds they claimed the right to arrest Barrundia, 
and stated that all the dispatches he had received from the United 
States minister said he thought that they had a right to arrest him j 
that he (Pitts) thought he should be more positive ; that he had put 
himself under his (the minister's) orders, and that he expected to hear 
from him when the train arrived. I told him that I did not know, but 
I supposed the minister knew what he was about; that I was not sub- 
ject to the orders of the United States minister, and if I were called 
upon it would be my duty to satisfy myself that the Government of 
Guatemala had a right to make the arrest. 

Captain Pitts told me that the commandant had said he was going 
to ask me to send a guard on board when he made the arrest, to which 
I r.eplied that I would not send a guard on board at the request of the 
commandant. He then said, " Suppose the commandant and I both 
ask you!'' I said, "When you ask me I will give you a reply." Cap- 
tain'Pitts told me that Barrundia was going to New York via Panama 
and that he would guaranty to carry him to Panama, putting him iu 
irons if necessary to prevent his landing in Salvador. Just before 
leaving, I asked to see Barrundia. Captain Pitts told me that Bar- 
rundia was in his stateroom and did not see anybody. 
Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Geo. C. Reiter, 
Commander, U. S. Navy. 

Hon. B. F. Tracy, 

Secretary <f the Navy. 



8 CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITER, 

Ko. 9. — The Secretary oftJie Navy to Commander Reiter. 

December 31, 1890. 

Sir: Upon the receipt of your report of tbe 28tli of August last, de- 
tailing the events connected with the shooting of General Barrundia, 
the Department, by an order of September 29, relieved you of your com- 
mand. 

In an interview on the 15th of December a further statement was 
made by you verbally, which, in accordance with the Department's direc- 
tions, you embodied"^in a written report dated December 20, 

The'present communication is addressed to you in order that you may 
be fully acquainted with the grounds of the Department's action. 

Your reports show that on the 27th of August last you were lying 
with the Banger and the Thetis off San Jose, a seaport of Guatemala, 
which has no harbor, properly speaking, but only an open roadstead. 
The Acapiilco, an American passenger steamer, making regular trips 
from San Francisco to Panama, stopping at intermediate points in 
Mexico, Guatemala, and Salvador, including San Jose, was expected 
to arrive shortly, and actually did arrive towards the close of the day. 
At 6:30 p. m. of that day, the AcajmJco being then in sight, but not yet 
having reached her anchorage, you received an intimation of the pur- 
poses of the Guatemalan Government from the United States minister, 
who informed you that the steamer had on board a passenger. General 
Barrundia, whom the territorial government regarded as a political 
enemy and as liable to arrest upon entering their waters. 

It does not appear that under these circumstances you took any steps 
to communicate with the steamer to inform yourself more fully of the 
facts or to warn the captain of the risk his passenger was about to en- 
counter. Instead of this, upon the receipt of the information contained 
in the minister's telegram, you went on shore and telegraphed to the 
latter a suggestion that he "^should ask the Guatemalan Government to 
permit the Thetis to take General Barrundia back to Acapulco, from 
which place he had come. While you were thus occupied the steamer 
arrived in the port and came to anchor. 

While on shore you requested the local Guatemalan officer to suspend 
action until you had received a reply to your telegram, which request 
he refused to comply with, going on board the steamer and returning 
without, however,"attempting at this time to make any arrest. You 
did not accompany the Guatemalan officer on his visit, nor did you go 
on board the Acapulco or have any communication with her captain, 
either then or during the whole of the night. 

At 9:30 a. m. on the following day you received a second telegram 
from the United States Minister, stating that the Guatemalan Govern- 
ment declined your offer to take General Barrundia away in the Thetis. 
Your first report does not state that you had any interview with Cap- 
tain Pitts during this morning, but, from your verbal statement made 
on the loth instant and from your second report it appears that you 
went on board the Acainilco soon after receiving this second telegram 
and held an inconclusive conference with Ca])tain Pitts. Although, 
according to your report, "at about 2 p. m.it was thought that a num- 
ber of shots were heard on board the Acapulco,^'' your next appearance 
on tbe vessel was not until 2:30 p. m., after the death of General Bar- 
rundia, when Lieutenant Bartlett, who had been visiting the steamer, 
reported that firing had been taking place on board and that protection 
was desired. 



CONDUCT OF COMMANDER EEITER. 9 

In the opinion of the Department your conduct, upon your own show- 
ing, is deseiTing of unqualified censure. 

In your situation, in command of a force of public vessels of the 
United States, in a territory which, if not at that moment at war, had 
recently been the scene of hostilities, as well as of civil disturbance, it 
was your duty to watch with the most active solicitude over the inter- 
ests of your country in that quarter, and especially its interests afloat. 
From the moment that the approach of the Acajndco, a steamer bear- 
ing the American flag, was known to you, you should have taken 
every step legally in your power to give countenance and support to 
her captain, and protection to all persons on board, especially when you 
knew that their safety was likely to be menaced. Instead of this, in 
your apparent endeavor to escape responsibility, you remained so com- 
pletely passive that, as far as events on board the Acapulco were con- 
cerned, you and and your vessels might as well have been on the other 
side of the ocean. 

Whenever any passenger, whether American or foreigner, is received 
on board an American vessel, he comes under the American flag, and 
is entitled to the protection and security of which that flag is the guar- 
anty. At sea this inviolability has in time of peace no exception or 
qualification. In foreign ports it is qualified only by the legal exercise 
of the territorial authority. Whatever may have been the extent of this 
authority over a vessel anchored within the port, the American steamer, 
before she entered the port, and after she left it, was as independent of 
such authority as your own ship, or as the soil of your own country. It 
was within your legitimate power, as it was your imperative duty, to 
■execute, by every means legally at your command, the guaranty of 
protection which the United States gives to all vessels under its flag. 
Your ships were on the spot; you had full knowledge of General Bar- 
rundia's approach; you were informed of the intention to seize him as 
a jiolitical offender. He was not a fugitive from the territory of Guate- 
mala seeking to escape from the territorial jurisdiction. Neither was 
he a conspirator attempting to return to his country to foment revolu- 
tion. He was a passenger on board an American ship, which he had 
joined in Mexico, with a destination for Panama; and he had thus, 
without your intervention, and outside of the local jurisdiction, obtained 
a place under the flag and protection of the United States. In this 
situation you found him. His safety was threatened. 

Under these circumstances it was your plain duty to proceed at once 
to meet the steamer, before she cast auchor in the port, to warn the 
captain of the danger and to offer to his passenger, should he desire it, 
an asylum on board your ship. Had you merely gone out to inform 
yourself personally of the facts you would have learned that General 
Barrundia had taken passage from a port outside of Guatemala; that 
he was proceeding likewise to a jiort outside of Guatemala; that he 
was at San Jos6 only because it lay in the route of the steamer, and 
that, so far from meditating a movement against Guatemalan sover- 
eignty, he had no intention of entering, voluntarily, the Guatemalan 
territory. Had you learned these facts, of which you would undoubt- 
edly have been apprised immediately upon reaching the steamer, it is 
impossible to suppose that you would have failed to offer the fugitive 
an asylum. Such an act could have violated no rights of the territorial 
goveinment, for no rights over the person of the passenger would have 
yet vested, while it would have maintained the implied ])romise of pro- 
tection which the United States makes to all who, in good faith, embark 
under its flag. By remaining inactive you neglected your obvious 



10 CONDUCT OF COMMANDER EEITER 

duties and placed your Government in the position of renouncing those 
who had sheltered themselves under its flag. 

Even after the arrival of the Acapidco in the port, your power of dis- 
cretionary action was by no means taken away. There were, in par- 
ticular, three points in which the existing situation imposed upon you, 
as the senior naval officer i)resent, a positive duty, namely: 

1. To make a full investigation of the facts, to ascertain the sufficiency 
of the charge and of the authority upon which the proposed removal of 
the passenger was based. 

2. To prevent by your presence, with such assistance as you might 
find necessary, any proceedings on board the steamer calculated to en- 
danger the safety of those on board. 

3. If, upon examination, it appeared that a seizure was to be attempted 
without proper warrant, or that the proceedings were merely in the 
nature of a pretext to secure the person of a political fugitive, to otter 
him, in accordance with humane and well-established practice in the 
case of refugees whose lives are in danger, the hospitality of your own 
vessel. 

In none of these particulars does it appear that you took any action. 
Tou stated to Captain Pitts, according to your second report: 

If 1 icere called upon, it would be my duty to satisfy myself that the Govcrnmeut 
of Guatemala bad a rigbt to make the arrest. 

To Captain Pitts's question whether you would send a guard on board 
the Acapulco, at the joint request of himself and. the commaudante, 
you made this extraordinary answer: "When you ask me I will give 
you a reply." In both these cases it is evident that you proposed to do 
nothing unless somebody preferred a formal request or demand for your 
interposition; forgetting that in the circumstances then existing the 
most pressing demand for your intervention came from the situation 
itself, and that it was your duty to act promptly and efficaciously,, 
without waiting for the invitation, request, or advice of any person 
whatever. 

That it was your deliberate intention to remain inactive, in the ab- 
sence of formal applications, is further evidenced by your extraordinary 
delay in x)roceeding on board the steamer on the afternoon of the 28th 
of August, when the sound of firing showed to you that an aifray was 
taking j)lace. Your first report says : 

At about 2 p. m. it was thought that a number of shots were heard on board, the 
Acaimico, and at 2:15 the Gautemalan flag was hauled down from the fore and the 
United States flag hoisted in its stead, when I supposed the United States minister 
was on board. But at 2:30, when the whaleboat came alongside, with Lieutenants 
Bartlett and Haisey, who had been A-isiting the Acopulco, Lieutenant Bartlett re- 
ported to me that the commandant was on board and that promiscuous tiring haxL 
been going on on board the ship, and that they desired protection, the United States 
flag at the fore having been hoisted to signify that desire. I immediately left the 
ship in the gig to go alongside the AccqiuJco and ordered Lieutenant Harris to follow 
me at once with an armed party of marines in the whaleboat. On my arrival on the 
Acapulco I found all quiet and no necessity for any protection, so that on arrival of 
Lieutenant Harris a few moments afterwards I directed him to return to the Eanger. 

It is believed that few cases have ever occurred in the history of the 
U. S. Navy where a commanding officer so completely abandoned the 
responsibilities of his position as, according to your own showing, you 
did upon this critical occasion. Fully aware, as you were on that after- 
noon, of the probable course of events, it does not appear that you took 
any steps to learn when and with what warrant of authority the 
local officials were coming on board ; and if you had actual knowledge 
of their arrival, the fact, apparently, gave you no concern and in no- 



CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITER. 11 

way influenced your conduct. Even wlien you beard the fatal shots, 
which showed only too plainly what was taldng place, you made no 
movement, but with a degree of apathy almost unparalleled you waited 
for half an hour, until a formal request came for protection. 

Under these circumstances it is not surprising that, upon your ar- 
rival on the steamer, you found, as you state in your letter of that date 
to Mr. Mizner, that " the commandant had left with the body of Barruu- 
dia and that all was quiet." 

It would seem that you had from the beginning some intention, as 
indicated in your telegram to the United States minister, of receiving- 
General Barrundia on board one of your ships, under the supposition, 
which turned out to be only too well-founded, that he would need your 
protection. But upon what principle you submitted this as a question 
for the territorial government to decide, delaying 15 critical hours, until 
you could receive an answer, the Department is at a loss to compre- 
hend. A United States officer does not ask of a foreign government 
permission to offer asylum to any person on board an American vessel 
at sea who stands in need of a refuge. An officer who so abdicates his 
authority and that of the nation he represents and surrenders it to 
others has a lesson to learn before he can safely be intrusted with the 
command of a ship of war. 

It is possible that in adopting this line of conduct you were to some 
extent influenced by the dispatch of the United States minister quoted 
in your letter. The Department fails to find in this dispatch any justi- 
fication for your inaction. Even if the minister had distinctly advised 
you to remain a passive spectator, which was not the case, your re- 
sponsibility, as the officer in command afloat, could not thereby be 
either increased or diminished ; and least of all on the open sea outside 
of the territory in which the minister was clothed with the rex^resenta- 
tive character. In the performance of his duties under the law the 
responsibility of a naval officer is complete, nor can anything but the 
orders of his superior shift the burden to another. 

That this familiar principle governing the relations of envoys and 
naval commanders was well understood by you is shown clearly by 
your answer to Captain Pitts's inquiry as to the grounds of the minis- 
ter's opinion, quoted in your second report, as follows : 

I told him that I did not know, but I supposed the minister knew what he was 
ahout ; that I was not subject to the orders of tlie United States minister, and that 
if I were called u^ion it would be my duty to satisfy myself that the Government of 
Guatemala had a right to make the arrest. 

For the reasons herein stated, the Department has been constrained 
to relieve you of your command, and to order your return to the United 
States. 

Very respectfully, 

B. F. Tracy, 
Secretary of the Navy. 
Commander George C. Eeiter, U. S. iST., 

Pittsburgh, Pa, 



'So. 10. — Commander Better to the Secretary of the Navy. 

Pittsburgh, Pa., January 8, 1891. 

Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of the Department's letter of 
the 31st December, 1890. This letter was mailed in Washington, D. 



12 CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITER. 

C, Oil tlie 6tb day of January and was received by me on the Tth. It 
was Ibresliadowed by the press of the United States on January 1 and 
2, and an extract from it containing the most severe censure of the 
Department appears in the press of the country to-day. The letter 
thus becomes to the general public, unfamiliar with the true facts of 
the case, a severe "public reprimand" to me, a punishment which can 
only be legally inflicted by sentence of a naval general court-martial. 

I was detached from command of the Ranger by the Department's 
order of the 29th September, 1890, and this letter is the first written 
statement of the grounds of the Department's action. Extracts from 
it having been given to the press for publication before I could possibly 
reply to it. I now content myself by simply declaring that when in 
command of the Ranger, on the occasion in question, I was in no way 
culpable, but discharged my wbole dutj' ; that I had no desire nor did 
I endeavor to escape any responsibility attaching to my position and 
1 do not now fear the most searching inquiry in regard to my action. 

As I regard your letter as unjust, undeserved, and unwarranted I 
have to respectfully demand what is clearly my right, namely, a trial 
before a naval court. 
Kespectfully, 

Geo. C. Eeitee, 
Commander U. S. Xavy. 

Hon. B. F. Tract, 

Secretary of tlie Wavy. 



iN'o. 11. — The Secretary of the Wavy to Commander Reiter. 

Navy Department, 
Washington, January 14, 1891. 

Sir : Your letter of the 8th instant asking for a trial by court-martial 
has been received. 

You state that the Department's action in your case constitutes a 
public reprimand, and that this is a punishment that can only be legally 
inflicted by sentence of a naval general court-martial. Your statement 
shows that you are ignorant of the first principles of naval discipline. 
The assumption that the Secretary of the Navy can not pronounce a 
rebuke, public or private, upon an officer for a breach of discipline, or 
a failure in the performance of duty, without obtaining the sanction of 
a court, is an unheard-of proposition. The Department impartially 
awards praise or blame to the officer who deserves the one or the other 
as occasion may arise, and the practice is as old as the Department 
itself. Cases have occurred where the Department, without trial, has 
pronounced emphatic reprimand upon officers in general orders. The 
publicity that is given either to its commendation or its reproof is a 
matter within its own discretion, in the exercise of which it consults 
only the public interest. 

You further state that a trial by court-martial is clearly your right. 
Your attention is called to Section 121, Orders, Eegulatious and In- 
structions for the Administration of Law and Justice in the Kavy, 1870, 
as follows : 

No officer has the right to demand a court-martial on himself or others, the grant- 
ing of a trial resting solely in the discretion of the officer authorized to convene a 
court. 



CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITER. 13 

The question is also raised by implicatiou in your letter whether the 
Department has committed an act of iujustice in censuring' you without 
an opportunity to be heard. You were detached from the command of 
the Ranger by an order of September 29. The Department's action in 
detaching you was in the exercise of its ordinary power of assigning 
the duties of officers according to the best interests of the service, and 
it deemed that these interests called for your detachment. Alter your 
return on j^ovember 25, you wrote to the Department on December 8, 
stating that you feared that it did not approve of your action, and ask- 
ing that you might be aftbrded an opportunity to explain it to the 
Secretary personally, or before a court of inquiry. On the 12th the 
Department replied as follows : 

You are iDformed that tlae Department was dissatisfied with your course while in 
command of the U. S. S. Banger on the coast of Central Aroerica, and you are au- 
thorized to visit the Department and to make personally such explanation in regard 
to your actions as you may desire. 

On the 15th of December, in consequence of the above-mentioned 
correspondence, and for the purpose stated in your letter of request, 
namely, that you might be enabled to make a personal explanation, you 
had a personal interview with the Secretary of the JSTavy. At this 
interview you were given the fullest opportunity to make any statement 
that you desired bearing on the facts of the case. You were also dis- 
tinctly informed of the general grounds of the Department's dissatisfac- 
tion. At the conclusion of the interview you were not only authorized 
but directed to embody your statements in an additional report. 

IsTo communication being received from yon, the Department, on the 
18th, wrote you a letter calling for your supplementary report and di- 
recting you to include in it any facts not yet reported by you. This • 
report, dated December 20, was received on the 23d, and upon the 31st 
the Department addressed to you its full and final review of the case. 

Although you were informed on the 12th of December of the Depart- 
ment's dissatisfaction, and on the 15th of the grounds on which its dis- 
satisfaction was based, you made no request for a court-martial until 
your letter of the 8th of January, after the Department had pronounced 
finally upon the case. 

The Department had, however, without any request from you, already 
considered fully the question of bringing you to trial. Such a trial is 
necessary when the facts of a case can not be otherwise definitely ascer- 
tained or when the penalty which the circumstances demand is beyond 
the scope of ordinary Departmental powers, i^either of these reasons 
existed here, because the Department accepted and acted upon your 
own statement of the facts; and its disciplinary powers were sufficient 
to meet the case. The only object of a trial, in this case, would have 
been to obtain an expression of the law aiDplicable to the admitted facts 
and a definition of the duties of an officer in relation thereto, which 
expression and definition, under the well-established principles govern- 
ing the administration of naval discipline, as shown by numberless 
precedents, the Department is of itself entirely competent to declare. 
In determining questions of law arising upon undisputed facts the 
Department does not require the assistance of a court-martial. 

Since this concluvsion was reached the Department has seen no reason 
to modify it. It has listened with patience to your successive state- 
ments. It has given yoii every opportunity to be heard before taking 
action. It indicated to you the grounds of its disapproval before you 
sent in your final report. In visiting upon you its censure it has re- 
lied solely upon your own statement of the facts. In its communica- 



14 CONDUCT OF COMMANDER REITEE. 

tiou of the 31st, coudeuiDiug your conduct, it recited these facts, and 
your letter asking for a trial leaves them undisputed. 

You are therefore informed that it is not the intention of the Depart- 
ment to bring you to a trial by court-martial and that it regards your 
case as having been finally disposed of. 
Yery respectfully, 

B. F. Tract, 
/Secretary of the Navy. 
Commander George 0. Eeiter, IT. S. N., 

Pittsburg]), Pa. 



Pittsburgh, Pa., January 20, 1891. 
Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of the Department's letter of 
the 14th instant, informing me of its action on my demand for trial by 
court-martial. 

Kespectfully, 

Geo. C. Eeiter, 
Commander U. 8. Navy. 
Hon. B. F. Tract, 

Secretary of the Navy. 



